RAMALLAH, January 7 (JMCC) - Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said that he discussed creative ideas for progressing with statehood recognition at the United Nations with the current Security Council president,
reports the Associated Press.
Palestinians presented a petition for statehood recognition by the Security Council last September, but has not gained the votes needed for the measure to pass. The United States has promised to veto the measure if it comes to a vote, and Palestinians are now seeking other ways of promoting the initiative.
Mansour said that while the Palestinian Authority has not decided on its next step, he held out the possibility of going to the U.N.’s 192-member General Assembly where the U.S. does not have veto power.
He also suggested the Palestinians could seek to join other U.N. agencies as they have with UNESCO, which admitted the Palestinians in October.
Another example of creative diplomacy occurred last month, Mansour said, when rather than seeking a formal presidential statement from the Security Council, diplomats from E.U. and other countries read statements directly to the press taking the U.S. to task over its intransigence in failing to condemn Israel for expanding settlements.
Mansour said the letter handed to Baso Sangqu, the U.N. Ambassador from South Africa which holds the Security Council presidency for the month of January, documents “crimes committed by the occupying authority against our people in the occupied territory, including the terrorist activities by the settlers against our civilian population.”
UNESCO's acceptance of Palestine as a member triggered a US law forcing it to withdraw funding from the organization, deeply affecting its programming. Other agencies that Palestinians could seek to join include the International Atomic Energy Agency.